What's the best way to use undo-redo on emacs?
reddit / emacs

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lord4ris · 2022-06-08 22:05

I lost my progress on an org document twice, and I used tons of undo-
redo commands, but none of them worked, so now, even though I really
like org mode and emacs, I'm kind of disappointed.

Is there a safe way to create documents without the risk of lose
everything because of a simple error like using undo-redo commands the
wrong way?

I read about version control, but still don't know how to use it.

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Relative_Tap5915 · 2022-06-08 22:40

You can try out undo-tree package which offers a more intuitive
interface (like you would normally C-z and C-y in other contexts) and
much more

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MitchellMarquez42 · 2022-06-08 22:51

Undo-redo is for quick changes and doesn't persist between sessions
(by default).

Emacs should be creating backup files ending in `~`. Those might be
useful for you.

To save your files and their old contents:

1. Make backups. The easiest way is just a copy of the file, maybe put
the date in the filename.

2. Learn some basic version control, such as `git`.
To start tracking files in a folder:

    git init && git add .

To save changes:

    git commit -am "message"

(the message can be anything; I recommend something descriptive).

To restore everything to the last commit:

    git checkout -f

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lord4ris · 2022-06-08 23:33

I already installed it using package-install, but It's not appearing
in the M-x list.

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00-11 · 2022-06-08 23:34

https://emacs.stackexchange.com/q/72085/105

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dpoggio · 2022-06-08 23:41

Adding: In some way, undo-tree is a very basic version control using
backups (*~). It can be combined with git to store intermediate steps
and avoid a fine grained git log needing maintenance.

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Relative_Tap5915 · 2022-06-09 00:09

Do you have the command undo-tree-mode? If so, you can turn it on and
see if there are commands like undo-tree-undo and undo-tree-redo

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lord4ris · 2022-06-09 00:36

It doesn't appear on my commands list.  If I uninstall and reinstall
it, it appears on that list, but if I restart emacs, it won't.

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Relative_Tap5915 · 2022-06-09 00:57

Well, you need to load it from your .emacs file... something like
(require 'undo-tree)

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Danrobi1 · 2022-06-09 01:08

You could try [vundo](https://github.com/casouri/vundo)

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the2bears · 2022-06-09 01:42

Just use magit for the git commands.

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MitchellMarquez42 · 2022-06-09 02:00

That's step 3

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lord4ris · 2022-06-09 04:30

It looks pretty good! I'll try it!

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[deleted] · 2022-06-09 05:43

To me undo-tree-visualize is the killer feature.

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pwnedary · 2022-06-09 07:47

Configuring autoloads so that they work is the proper solution.

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ideasman_42 · 2022-06-09 10:50

- [Undo-fu](https://codeberg.org/ideasman42/emacs-undo-fu), simple
undo/redo.
- [Undo-fu-session](https://codeberg.org/ideasman42/emacs-undo-fu-
session), for storing undo on file save.
- [Vundo](https://github.com/casouri/vundo), for the  rare occasions I
need a tree.

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Faerryn · 2022-06-10 00:02

Consider binding `C-/` to `undo-only`.  Since `C-?` is bound to `undo-
redo` this allows for behavior similar to C-z and C-r in other
editors, instead of spending eons undoing undos.

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lord4ris · 2022-06-10 01:03

thank you so much!